Dreams and Ashes
by writingwillow
Summary: A quiet girl is called out of Negi's class and told that her entire family has just been killed in a fire. Up until this point she's been overlooked by the entire school but now she has everyone's attention, even though she doesn't want it. Up for adoption.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Negima or Fruits basket.**

Professor Negi Springfield stood at the front of his class, on his stool, writing on the blackboard when he was interrupted by the intercom as he stopped to listen to the announcement.

"_Alexa Kaneko please come to the nurse's office at this time, Alexa Kaneko please come to the nurse's office at this time."_

Not recognizing the name in the announcement he turned back to the blackboard, but was surprised when he heard a chair being pushed back behind him. Turning to look at the girl who stood he was immediately struck, not by her flowing silver hair or striking, nearly turquoise eyes, but by the fact that he simply couldn't place whether or not he had ever seen her before. Without a word she grabbed her bag and walked to the door.

"Uh…um…excuse me," he started a bit confused at his lapse in memory, she must have been in his class for some time and he'd thought he had already memorized all of his students.

"Forgive me Professor," she said lightly, glancing at him with her hand still on the handle, "I promise to make up any work I miss but I've just been paged."

Alexa walked quickly down the hallways in the direction of the nurse's office, nervously wondering why she would be called out of class. She couldn't think of anything she had done wrong or anything she might be blamed for. She couldn't imagine what they wanted with her, she had never been called out class for anything before, she never got into trouble or stood out in any way. The closer she got to the nurse's office the more nervous she got, sure that she had gotten herself in trouble somehow and only wishing she knew why.

Swallowing hard she pushed open the door to the nurse's office and stepped inside.

"You asked to see me?" she asked nervously. She noticed Shizuna sensei nearby look up at her.

"Alexa Kaneko?" the girl nodded. "Unfortunately we have a bit of bad news." Shizuna motioned the girl to step inside and take a seat.

"What happened?" she asked nervously as she sat in the chair in front of Shizuna sensei.

"I'm afraid the police have just called. It seems that your house caught fire, your grandparents are dead." Alexa's eyes widened and she looked down at her lap. She wasn't really close to her grandparents, so she wasn't really sure she should even be upset, but it was a strange feeling to know that someone who had been alive long before she had been born, who was supposedly such a large part of her life was dead. "Your mother is still alive, but she was badly burned. The doctors don't expect her to make it through the week."

Once again shock ran through her consciousness, within minutes everything she had been attached to seemed to disappear, her grandparents were dead, and her mother would be dead within the week. Still she felt sort of… numb, the only people she had ever had a relationship with, perhaps not very good ones but relationships none the less, and they were gone and yet, it seemed a sort of detached concept that their lives had any bearing on her own.

"D-do…" She started uncertainly, "Do they know….how…how the f-fire…"

"Their still looking into what started the fire, but they said that it looked like it might have been started by some faulty wiring in one of the bedrooms." Shizuna sensei watched the girl sympathetically, in one fell swoop her entire family had been taken away and she was left with nothing and no one in the world. She knew many of the students in the school, and she recognized Alexa as being one of the quietest children she had ever met. All of the girls had something they were good at, most of them were in some sort of club, but she couldn't remember even once seeing Alexa with any of the other girls. It wouldn't have even surprised her to know that today was the first time she had spoken to anyone this year.

As if in a trance Alexa rose from her seat.

"I should go back to class." She said distantly, as if she was simply informing herself of where she intended to go.

"You've been excused from classes for the rest of the week." Shizuna sensei said putting a hand on the girl's shoulder, surprised when Alexa looked straight into her eyes. Alexa's eyes were at once deep, calm, clear pools and clouded with confusion and indecision. Shizuna tried to smile at her reassuringly but Alexa just shook her head once and looked down again.

"There's no reason for me to miss class," she said simply, "If I can I would like to stay with my mother rather than in my dorm, but there's no reason that I should miss any class."

Shizuna sensei watched as the girl walked slowly, distractedly, back to class.

Negi sensei looked sharply up from his book when he heard the door open, noticing that it was the girl from before, _Alexa_ he reminded himself, he watched her walk back to her desk.

"What did they want?" he asked noticing her almost stare almost vacantly at the board for a moment. She blinked at him a moment before she realized that he had asked her a question.

"Oh…" she said distantly, "My family died."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Negima or fruits basket.**

Alexa found the response to her statement both amusing and immensely annoying. Her professor and the entire class stopped and tried to comfort her, asking what happened. Up until this point she had stayed nicely inconspicuous, she would be surprised if any of them even noticed that she existed ten minutes ago. She had to tell everyone what had happened like four times, and now the professor and the other girls were huddled around her trying to comfort her.

"I'm fine, really." She insisted closing her eyes as she wished everyone would just get over it already. What happened to her family was tragic, sure, but it had no bearing on what should be happening in class. Then again, that's probably just what she would have to deal with in a class where the teacher was barely ten years old, and more of a friend to the rest of the class.

"I'm sure the dean would understand if you wanted to stay with your mother." Negi said sympathetically, tearing up behind his glasses. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"I was told that I was excused for the rest of the week, but I see no point in missing class." She answered a bit stiffly, "I'll see my mother after classes but I will be in school." More than a few of the girls awed as Negi sniffled and wiped his eyes, thinking how brave she must be to just keep working through this. He would have been disappointed if he'd knew that she really just wasn't that phased that people she hadn't spent any time with since she had started school were gone. True they were her only family but she was never really considered part of the family anyway.

Still obviously upset, Negi went back to the board to teach as the class settled down to some extent, though most of the girls were still cooing over how cute Negi sensei was when he was sad.

Alexa gritted her teeth as she slipped into the dorm building once classes were over. As long as she had been in this school no one had spoken to her even once and now that her family had burned to death everyone was trying to console her and tell her how brave she was to keep going to class with what she was going through. Making it to her room she grabbed everything she would need spending the night at the hospital, all of it fitting easily into her bag before she left the campus.

She spent the rest of the night in a room in the intensive care unit of the hospital. Her mother was bandaged from head to toe, very little of her skin wasn't burned. From what Alexa could tell, her mother didn't wake up once from the time she found the room. The next morning she pulled herself out of the hospital chair. Stiff from the awkward night she splashed water on her face as she changed back into her school uniform. She left most of her things in the room as she ran to catch the train back to school.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Negima or Fruits basket.**

The next few days Alexa spent running from Mahora academy to her mother's hospital room. It wasn't until her third night there that her mother woke up to see her, and when she did they still didn't get along. Fourteen years old, her mother still considered her to be a mistake.

While her class seemed to have settled into something like normalcy, Negi and a few of the students still seemed determined to comfort her. She wasn't used to the attention, but at least, she told herself, she only had to deal with it in class now.

Negi, Asuna and Konoka paused outside of the hospital a bit nervously. Since Negi had heard what happened to Alexa's family he had wanted to visit the girl's injured mother. He only waited because he thought he should give the girl a bit of time with her mother alone, she still barely spoke to anyone since what happened. Of course he was overlooking the fact that she never spoke to anyone before the incident either. He was determined to pay his respects to the poor woman, and hopefully make his student feel a little better after losing her grandparents.

When the three got to the room even Asuna was hesitant to knock on the door. When they did Alexa let them in with the same emotionally distant, slightly irritated look that she always seemed to wear. Her mother's condition wasn't improving, and unfortunately she wasn't even awake when they arrived. The group spoke in soft tones, hoping they wouldn't disturb the poor woman.

"Does she seem to be doing any better?" Negi asked cautiously, not wanting to upset the girl, she didn't seem to react.

"Better than the doctors expected perhaps, they say now that she may make it to the end of the month, they still don't expect her to actually recover." She answered politely.

"You don't seem too broken up about it." Asuna pointed out glancing over at the girl from where she stood next to the unconscious mother.

"It was… unexpected." Alexa admitted uncertainly. "I was never particularly close to my family but they were always very good to me." She still didn't seem to be particularly affected by the actual situation, but what bothered them was that she didn't seem to be affected at all that her family was actually dead, the only one left wasn't expected to last more than another week.

"What are you going to do when she's gone?" Negi asked concerned. She looked at him distantly for a moment, thinking about it.

"I'll get a job and take care of myself," she shrugged. Konoka looked at her sadly.

"Don't you have any other family?" she asked softly, "What about your father?" Alexa looked at her in surprise.

"My mother was very young when she got pregnant, she never told anyone who my father was." She said apathetically. The others looked at her in sympathy, what was truly sad to them was she didn't even seem to consider that it should be any other way.

Next to Konoka the poor woman started to cough unexpectedly, making the occupants of the small room jump. Alexa stood up and tried to take her mother's hand to comfort her but her mother snatched her hand away and glared at the girl accusingly. Negi looked at them confused but Alexa didn't even flinch as she went to get her mother a cup of water and tried to help her sit up to drink some. She pushed the girl away and laid back down.

"Useless girl." The woman muttered hoarsely as she settled herself back into the bed. The monitors became a little louder and a nurse rushed in ushering them out into the hallway to wait.

A few minutes latter a sympathetic looking doctor came out and told them that she had died. Alexa still didn't seem to react. She sighed sadly and looked away from them.

"I guess the first estimate was right, not through the end of the week." She said softly. She turned back to the doctor and smiled, thanking him for taking care of her mother before she left.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Negima or Fruits basket.**

Now that her mother was dead Alexa went back to living in the dorms with the other students. Everyone continued to show her sympathy and they tried to be nice to her, but she still avoided the other students. As the only living member of the family she inherited all that was left of the house, what survived fit into a few boxes that were delivered to the school for her. She also got a bit of insurance money from her family's home insurance, as well as their life insurance. Almost immediately she opened a savings account in which she deposited all of this money, only keeping out enough money to have them all cremated and have a small funeral. She was surprised when most of her class showed up for it, her family had a few friends as well but it still stayed a very small service.

The day after the funeral Alexa started looking for a job, she still had the insurance money but she knew that wouldn't be enough to support herself. Her class was surprised at how she still seemed so withdrawn, she had made it so that she always had something she was doing. If she wasn't in class or at work she spent her time in her dorm room going through what was left of her home.

She went through the boxes slowly, one by one, separating what was essentially garbage from anything that might be slightly valuable. There wasn't much that wasn't broken, a couple of her mother's knick knacks, a few of the less warped pieces of her grandmothers salt and pepper shaker collection, a pocket watch she was sure had belonged to her grandfather, and one big chest that had survived the inferno. Granted the outside was blackened and looked ready to fall apart but, whatever had been inside had survived virtually unharmed. It was the chest that she saved to look through last, it had been her mother's and somehow she still felt like she was invading her mother's privacy by even touching it.

She wasn't surprised to find that the thing was still locked. Not wanting to make a mess, she took the chest out to the school yard so that she was out on the grass. A few of her classmates were nearby and watched her curiously. She started picking at the burnt edges of the chest that were already loose and beginning to fall off even as she noticed the people watching her. She could hear them asking each other what she was doing as they tried not to look like they were actually watching her. It took her longer than she had thought, but eventually she got one of the sides off of the chest, or most of it anyway. Putting her hand through the hole she started pulling things out. At first it was simple things, her mother's winter blanket, and coats, once those were out she tried knocking in the top of the chest so that she could get to the rest more easily.

Without all of the other things supporting it the chest was fairly easy to pull apart. Inside there were a few more odds and ends, but what she was surprised to find was her mother's old diaries, apparently her mother had kept diaries for most of her life. There were nearly twenty diaries stacked in the bottom of the chest, one for each year since she had turned nine, all except the one for the last year she had been alive, which would have been burned with the rest of the house. Even having survived the fire inside the chest everything smelled like smoke and burnt plastic.

Ignoring the curious comments and questions of the kids surrounding her she grabbed one of the boxes she had brought down with her and started separating the things that had been in the chest. The diaries she kept in one box, she put the blanket and coats in another box and tossed everything else in the other boxes before she started carrying them up. She was a little surprised when professor Negi and Asuna offered to help her carry them up.

"What are the books?" Negi asked looking curiously into the box Alexa had brought up herself. She had told him she didn't need his help but they had insisted. She shrugged lightly.

"Diaries or something I suppose." She answered carelessly. Asuna looked up from the box of random knick-knacks.

"Are you going to read them?" she asked. "You might find something interesting."

"Probably not," she answered standing to the side, "There's no point really." Negi looked at her inquisitively.

"It looks like there's a lot of them," he said thoughtfully, "Whose were they?"

"My mother's" she answered expressionlessly. Asuna looked up from the box of knick-knacks again.

"She must have kept them for a while," she said, "Maybe she wrote about your father." The professor seemed almost excited at the idea.

"That's right," he said enthusiastically, "If you find out who he is maybe you can find him!" Alexa considered it for a moment before she shook her head.

"It might be interesting to know what kind of person he is, but there wouldn't be any point in it." She said dispirited, "Between what I inherited and what I earn I can take care of myself easily enough when I have to leave the dorms, there's no reason why I should find him."

"Aren't you even curious about him?" Asuna asked incredulously, "You already said that it would be interesting to see what kind of person he is."

"Curiosity isn't the issue, I just have no reason to bother someone unaware of my existence." Alexa answered calmly. Asuna shrugged and pulled Negi away with her when she left a few minutes later.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Negima or Fruits basket.**

_Dear Diary,_

_Today was the best birthday ever. Granma gave me this diary so I could always remember everything good that ever happens. I got lots more dollies too, they're really pretty. Shima from down the road gave me a stuffed puppy. It isn't very big but it's my favorite color, PINK! Mamma and Pappa took me out to the park and everything._

Alexa nearly gagged at the first entry in her mother's diaries. She had eventually decided that there was no reason she shouldn't read them. Her mother was dead so it's not like she cared anymore. Besides, it was the only way she would know anything about her mother, or her grandparents even, they hadn't spoken to her much while they were alive considering what she was, her mother's mistake.

Anyway, she couldn't sleep and if anything was going to knock her out a book full of her nine year old mother's memories would be it, if they didn't make her gag first. She looked at the book in distaste realizing that her mother may have been prissier than she had even thought and she once again asked herself how she had managed to come out of such a woman.

Professor Negi hadn't forgotten about the diaries either. He seemed determined that she should find her father. She figured he must have issues about his own father, it was the only explanation she could think of to explain his obsession with finding hers. This way she could at least tell them that she didn't see anything about her father in her mother's diaries. She looked through the pages with distaste, more than a few of them were covered in badly drawn pictures in crayon. She skimmed through most of the book rolling her eyes at what her mother wrote.

As the days wore on Alexa got further into her mother's diaries. Granted she skimmed more of it than she actually read, most of it was just daily things, by the third book she figured her mother had apparently hit puberty because she was going on about guys in her elementary class and most of what she wrote was a catalog of everything she ate through the days, and she apparently measured herself every morning and night. From what Alexa could tell her mother was completely paranoid about being attractive.

She also found that she was right in assuming that finding her father was more important to her professor than it was to her, he asked her every morning if she had found anything in the diaries about him, so far all she could say was that it was no wonder why her mother got pregnant as young as she did, she was completely obsessed with any boy that showed her the smallest bit of attention.

She hadn't expected her professor to be so impatient though. Her father had always been irrelevant to her, and she could take care of herself, now that she had a job, she had wanted work before, but her grandparents had scolded her about looking for an after school job telling her that it was an insult to them, since they were supporting her. That it was diminishing what they did for her, and making it look like they weren't doing as much for her. She understood though, they had supported her and taken care of her even though she was a mistake, and they had even sent her to a good school and were still supporting her, if she got a job it would look like they weren't doing as much for her.

She could support herself, and she didn't want anything from her father, but if it would get her professor off her back about it, she would look through the books to see if he was mentioned so she could find him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Negima or Fruits basket.**

_Dear diary,_

_School started today, the cutest boy is in my class. He's so handsome the teachers aren't even saying anything about his long hair, apparently even they think he looks to good to change anything. His name is Sohma Ayame, I think he's rich too, a car drives him all the way up to the door so he doesn't even have to walk to school._

Alexa skimmed the rest of the page. She was already at the end of the third diary, most of it had been descriptions of the people in her mother's classes, mostly the boys. She had actually been a little embarrassed the last time her professor asked about her father. It was just awkward telling a nine year old that there may be no way to know who her father was because her mother seemed to be a bit of a slut. Though granted from what she read her mother was still a virgin, she was interested in most of the boys around her, and over competitive and even vindictive to all of the girls, even the one's that appeared to be her friends.

This page seemed to be just another one of her latest infatuation, and by the end of the page it seemed that it was yet another where it wasn't likely that the boy had ever even noticed her. Then again, three pages later and her mother still hadn't said anything about anything but this Sohma. She just rolled her eyes, at the book as she tossed it into the box before pulling out another one and checking the date, looking for the next one.

She had been looking through the books for over a month now, mostly between school and work, she had gotten a part time job in a nearby store not long after she had taken care of everything concerning her family's death.

All she really wanted was to finish school and be able to take care of herself, hopefully she would go to college but she wasn't really looking for much in her life, just that she could live for herself. She wasn't used to people being concerned about her, and she found she really preferred if they weren't. Hopefully she could get a job and live somewhere where she didn't have to deal with people much, if at all.

When Alexa found the next book she read the first couple of entry's, a little surprised that her mother was still on this Sohma guy, apparently he had made it to become the student body president, though by the sound of it, reading between the lines of her mother's infatuation, it looked like his cousin was the one who really did most of the work.

When Alexa walked to class the next morning, early as always, Negi greeted her warmly, something he had only started doing since her family had died. She closed her eyes in annoyance and sighed patiently. She knew full well that her professor hadn't so much as known her name until she had been brought to his attention because of the fire, it only annoyed her more to know that it was solely on the merit of her family's death that people were concerning themselves with her, and at a time where more than anything she would rather be left alone to figure out what she would like to do at her own pace.

Since she was one of the only students there, Negi had started to come to class earlier himself when he had noticed Alexa's habit. And had stuck to the idea when he realized that it was the best, if not the only time he could really speak to her. Usually she would rush off right after class to get to her job keeping herself busy.

He asked his usual questions about her mother's diaries and she gave her usual answers in a bored tone. Negi seemed to consider everything she said seriously and he looked up at her again.

"Maybe there's something that you didn't notice, just a hint at it?" He asked looking at her seriously, though somewhat hopefully. "Would you mind if I read them, when you're done with them of course?"

Alexa looked at him slightly surprised. She realized that she probably should have expected someone to ask to read them eventually, especially considering how curious her professor was about them.

"I don't care if you read them," she said shaking her head slightly, "I'll bring in the one's I've finished already tomorrow for you."


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Negima or Fruits basket.**

The next morning Alexa brought in the diaries for Negi like she had told him. He was somewhat surprised that she had gotten through them so fast. She didn't really seem much interested in her family, and he had decided that she must still be dealing with their deaths. She brought him three diaries. Setting them on his desk to look through when he had more free time he went back to preparing for class as the other students began to arrive.

As Alexa continued reading her mother's diaries she found that not much changed with her mother over the years. Before her death her mother had still been overly conscious about her appearance, and fell quickly for almost any man that approached her, though she seemed to get over them fairly quickly, particularly once reminded that she already had one bastard child that branded her as unfit to any man. The pages seemed to run together, it was simply day after day of her mother cooing over whatever seemed to have caught her interest, and Alexa couldn't dredge up enough interest in the task to pretend to care about any of it.

It was a couple of months before she found what she was looking for, though she had never considered that it would come as obviously as it did. She had already read several of her mother's diaries, and passed them on to Negi for a much more through inspection, when she found, a little less than half way through the next book, her mother had apparently spent an interesting time with the Ayame boy she'd shown so much interest in through the past few books. The page concerned, while it thankfully didn't go into detail, was obvious enough in what it said _'I promised myself to him, Ayame is perfect in every way, we love each other……. When I lay next to him everything seems perfect. I know we'll always love each other'_ Apparently things hadn't turned out as her mother had planned.

In the next couple of pages her interest faded away from Ayame once again, and his apparently did the same, though she still seemed insistent that the two of them should have been together, when, on a latter page, she wrote how she found out that she was pregnant, the diary also showed where she was arguing with herself, and eventually decided not to tell Ayame that he would be a father, particularly once Alexa's grandparent's found out. At that time Alexa's mother was taken out of school and the family had moved away where they wouldn't have to deal as much with the social backlash of their only daughter having a child alone.

The tone of the diaries darkened and became more bitter, towards everyone, men, her parents, and particularly towards her child, Alexa. Alexa read, with no real surprise but more a sort of heavy sadness, how day after day, her mother spelled out how she hated her and all the reasons why. It didn't really surprise her, so Alexa was a little confused when she realized how much it actually broke her heart to see it in writing. Somewhere in the deepest part of her heart, she supposed she had still hoped that her family really loved her, this was only the proof that she had been right all along. Simply by existing she had ruined the lives of her family, and they had blamed her for it entirely.

The morning after she had found the passage that revealed her father once and for all, Alexa hesitated to grab the book, loathe to show anyone how her mother had spelled out how she had hated her, how she had ruined their lives, and with a suspicion that her professor wouldn't let her off with simply knowing who her father is, most likely he would insist on her tracking him down and showing up on his doorstep, going to ruin his life as well.

Sighing she picked up the worn out cover and slid it into her bag. She didn't like the idea, she very nearly hated the idea, but she had promised Neji to tell him if anything turned up, to let him look through them incase he found anything she didn't. It would have been wrong of her to find it and simply pretend it wasn't there.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Negima or Fruits basket.**

Alexa had a few days to dread what would happen before Negi followed her out after class. She had a couple hours before she had to be at work so she slowed down and turned to him. Better to get it over with quickly than to prolong the inevitable, she figured. She hadn't quite expected Konoka and Asuna to be with him though and she suppressed a grimace.

"Alexa, I know who your father is!" he said excitedly, "It has his family name and everything so it should be easy to find him too…"

"I don't want to find my father." She said expressionlessly. She wasn't surprised, and didn't react to the surprise on the ten year old's face.

"You don't…." he looked at her confused, asking her sadly, "You don't _want_ to find him…"

"I read the diaries as a curiosity," Alexa told him, he looked so heartbroken, as if they were talking about his own family. She couldn't help that a part of her wanted to go through with it, if only so she wouldn't hurt someone else, but the larger part reminded her that by sparing Negi's feelings, she would be hurting her father… she would be hurting Ayame, and anyone close to him.

"How can you be so cold? It's not like he abandoned you, from what we read your mother abandoned him! He at least deserves to know he has a kid!" Asuna said, glaring at her. Alexa forced herself not to react. Of course they would have read it as well, she should have expected it. She forced her voice to remain measured and even.

"My father 'deserves' to live unfettered by an unwanted responsibility, which is all that I would be. He needn't be bothered with me, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself." She turned and walked into the dorm, she had time, but she preferred to be to work early, and she didn't want to prolong the conversation. Negi followed her.

"He's your father, I'm sure he would be happy to see you…" Alexa stopped in front of her door with a sigh, looking back at the diminutive professor.

"Professor," she said as evenly as she could, "You've read the diaries yourself, the same goes for Asuna, and I assume Konoka, if not the rest of the class, I am not a friendly or good natured person and I refuse to ruin my father's life the way I ruined those of my mother and grandparents. I grew up without a father, the fact that I have one, and that I may be able to find him, means nothing to me. Ayame Sohma, means nothing to me."

With that Alexa stepped into her room, never turning to look at him and locking the door behind her so she could change into her uniform as her professor stood, staring at the door his student had shut between them, wide eyes brimming with tears. He had read the diaries, but he just couldn't believe that she could have really ruined her families lives, obviously she believed she had. He was supposed to be training himself to be a Magi, he just couldn't leave things the way they were.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Negima or Fruits basket.**

Negi sat, distracted, behind his desk, looking over the diaries of Alexa's mother. In a lot of ways he felt s though he was begining to understand the girl, but just as quickly she would prove him wrong. How could she want to know who her father is and not want to meet him. Asuna agreed, but he had decided to return to the class so he could have some time to think. Asuna was a bit too vocal about just how much they disagreed with the girl. She had family, at least a father, somewhere in Japan.

_"He needn't be bothered with me"_

_"Ayame Sohma means nothing to me"_

She couldn't possibly have meant those things. She couldn't really believe what her mother had put into those diaries. But then, her family must have treated her horribly for her to believe it, and she still didn't seem to blame them.

_'Maybe she's just afraid'_ he thought, letting his head drop to his desk with a thud. He didn't notice Takahata look inside, stepping in to see what was wrong, too worried about his silver haired student.

"Maybe she's just worried if he already has a family, if he has other problems." he said quietly to himself.

"If who has a family?" the older man asked, making the child professor jump in his seat.

"Oh, Taka-san, I didn't hear you come in..." he said nervously.

"I didn't mean to startle you." he said, looking over the boy's desk at the slightly scattered books. "You're here awfully late, I hope Asuna isn't giving you any trouble."

"No, not at all!" Negi said surprised, not wanting to get Asuna in trouble with her favorite teacher.

"So what's got you sitting here in your classroom rather than in bed at this hour? Obviously you're not grading papers." the red head sighed, picking up one of the books thoughtfully.

"Do you know Alexa?" he asked softly. Takahata thought about it for a moment.

"The silver haired girl who never talks to anyone?" Negi nodded, "easily forgotten. Sad about what happened to her family though."

"These are her mother's diaries." Negi told him.

"She gave them to you?"

"She said she didn't want them back, whatever happened to them." Negi answered, "I don't think her family thought much of her. The diaries mention her father, she could find him, but she says she doesn't want to, that she doesn't want to ruin his life too."

"So she's got the idea she ruined her mother's life somehow?"

"The diaries say as much, since before her birth its an outline of how little her family liked her. If her family treated her this way to her face... I'm surprised she didn't hate them sometimes."

"But you can't understand how she believesit herself, or how she could not want to meet her father." Takahata summed up for him. "Does he know anything about her?"

"From what the diaries say, he doesn't know she exists."

"So, what are you going to do?" Negi sighed heavily, unsure really what he should answer.

"As her professor I'm not sure what I should do."

"And as a Magi?"

"As a Magi I should try to help, but I don't know if that means leaving things alone or trying to interfere."

"It seems you have quite a problem then." Takahata picked up one of the books. "I wish I could help. I don't think even Nagi would have known what to do, he never really got so close to the people he was helping."

"I'm not really sure what good magic would do even."

"I'm sure you'll think of something. Don't worry yourself too much."

An hour later Negi went up to the dorm he shared with Asuna and Konoka, tired but determined. He couldn't make his decision whether or not to reveal Alexa's existance to her father for her, but he could find him so that Alexa would know who he is if she did decide to meet him.


End file.
